Professor Ken Gibb

The year 2024 was one of elections and government change around the world and in the UK. It also saw riots in the summer, more extreme weather, continuing wars, and the increasing use of the term ‘emergency’ to describe the state of our housing system.

A major achievement for CaCHE colleagues, led by James White, is the new ESRC-funded Urban Retrofit UK project, a partnership between Glasgow and Sheffield Universities and other colleagues at Cardiff University, Ulster University, UWE and Dalhousie University in Canada. In addition to James, the project involves CaCHE colleagues Phil O’Brien, Gareth James, Sarah Payne and Neale Blair.

CaCHE has also had a busy year working across its themes and priorities. Without going through all of our many projects and publications, I can highlight a few of our achievements. We returned to an earlier theme of employment within social housing for our Unity Homes project led by Gareth Young. Jenny Preece wrote a report on the emotional and well-being harm caused by poor building safety. David Robinson and Rhiannon Williams produced a report on the implications of the ageing projection for tenure and poverty outcomes.

This year, we supported Andrew Watson in delivering an innovative analysis of rural private renting as part of the Argyll & Bute council housing emergency action plan. At the same time, we supported and co-authored a student-led report on housing precarity in higher education for the Cross Party Group on housing at Holyrood.

Nicholas Harrington led our work on decarbonising housing with a report on the gas-electricity price differential and two other reports relating to our EPSRC residential air source heat pump research. A team led by myself and Joe Frey undertook a neighbourhood-level local housing systems analysis of the opportunities to regenerate housing and community in Govan, Glasgow. Joe also led a project with Neale Blair and colleagues in the Irish Republic exploring the opportunities of the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor.

With Gillian Young and Alice Earley, I led a critique and consequent set of reform proposals to support the Scottish Affordable Housing Supply Programme. Finally, led by Alex Marsh, CacHE wrote and supported the development of a long-term housing strategy for the Church of England, the Nationwide Foundation, and, in particular, focused on the resilient governance of such a strategy. 

In 2024, we also, through Mark Stephens, established a new UK-Australian housing research network, at the same time that Phil O’Brien is part of a Glasgow-Sydney ignition research project looking at Build To Rent in both countries. After many years of development, we completed and released the Routledge International Handbook of Housing Economics, edited by and contributed to by several CaCHE colleagues. This was also our first full year providing support to the running of the Thinkhouse website.

This year, we were also greatly saddened to lose two long-term housing research leaders and CaCHE supporters, Professors Stanley McGreal and Tony Crook.

Looking ahead to 2025, we expect an equally busy year, some notable activity includes:

• the evaluation of energy efficiency in new build council housing and the new Scottish affordable need study
• an evaluation of a major social lettings agency and landlord
• ongoing research involving economic evaluation of homelessness interventions and, separately, housing support
• new research with the Nationwide Foundation on housing strategy
• an assessment of homelessness services and strategy within a housing emergency
• new comparative social housing research across the UK
• several other bids and proposals under development 

We also continue to work with parliaments and governments and contribute to working and advisory groups across all four UK nations. Finally, we will commence our systems thinking-infused project, which seeks to map, analyse, and develop policies for the housing supply ecosystem—a major, timely project involving CaCHE’s different themes and jurisdictions. 

We thank all our many supporters, funders, contributors and partners across the housing sector.

Have a good and safe new year.